PAT CAPUTO: NFL playoffs calling out Lions' QB Matthew Stafford - even if he's not playing WITH VIDEO

It's not, like common perception suggests, with trash talk. It is, instead, with action.

As such, this season's NFL playoffs have served as a calling out of Lions' quarterback Matthew Stafford, even though he is not among those participating.

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At the conclusion of last season, Stafford was the "next one." He was the young gun QB with the glossy statistics, who had taken the Lions from 0-16 the year before he was drafted first overall to 10-6, and their first playoff appearance since the year Barry Sanders faxed in his retirement to a Wichita newspaper and walked away.

At the end of last season, for example, who would have suggested Baltimore Ravens' QB Joe Flacco was better than Stafford? Flacco, it has long been suggested, is merely a game manager. It's like Ray Rice is such a good running back, and the Ravens' defense so stout, all Flacco must do is make the routine throws and avoid turnovers. Saturday against Denver, Flacco unloaded three deep strikes that stuck a dagger in the heart of the Broncos. He outplayed and outlasted the great Peyton Manning during a road playoff game. Now if that doesn't provide creditability, what possibly could?

A lot of fans look at Stafford and see the Chicago Bears' Jay Cutler. I see Stafford as more like the Falcons' Matt Ryan. There isn't a wild card factor for either in regard to personality - like Cutler. Both have solid demeanors, and have had major influence in turning around their respective programs, at least until the Lions took a stunning step back with an 8-game losing streak to end this past season.

Atlanta played at the New York Giants during wild card weekend last season. They were beaten 24-2. Ryan was awful. His comeback against Seattle in the last 31 seconds Sunday was brilliant. It was something Stafford has done more a few times in the past, including over the Seahawks this season. The obvious difference: The stage. This was the postseason. Such as Flacco, Ryan moved ahead of Stafford.

Flacco and Ryan, like Stafford, have been in the league for awhile. They have moved up, as would be expected for premier quarterbacks entering the prime of their respective careers. But Stafford can look behind him, and see where there are younger quarterbacks passing him.

The San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick, in just his second year in the league, and first playing season, looks like the ultimate multi-threat quarterback, producing runs against the mighty Green Bay Packers like he was a bigger Denard Robinson vs. mediocre Big Ten competition.

Oh, except he has a strong and accurate arm. Kaepernick is a phenomenal talent.

Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks didn't win Sunday, but he should have by all accounts. He led a comeback from 20 points down, threw for 385 yards and averaged 8.6 yards on seven rushing attempts. He ran for a touchdown and passed for two more. Ah, he is a rookie.

Are these comparisons fair to Stafford, who still threw for nearly 5,000 yards, and did lead the Lions to comeback victories over St. Louis, Philadelphia and Seattle early this season?

Yes, and no. Flacco can hand the ball to Rice, Ryan to Michael Turner, Kaepernick to Frank Gore, Wilson to Mashawn Lynch. There is major dropoff to Mikel Leshoure and Joique Bell, the backs Stafford is working with.

While it is true Stafford is throwing to the best receiver in the NFL in Calvin Johnson, by the end of the year, he was just about his only viable target. Flacco, Ryan and Kaepernick all have many more passing options, including excellent tight ends.

Nonetheless, elite quarterbacks not only get to the playoffs, but win once there. They make those around them better, which is Tom Brady's calling card.